The MAPP Virtual Poster Day gave its postgraduate students and researchers the opportunity to share the Hub’s core research and portfolio of aligned projects.

Even in times of social distancing, MAPP has continued to engage across the Hub in showcasing its leading technologies with industrial collaborators.

While the MAPP researcher community are away from university campuses and tentatively taking steps back into the lab, we are still collaborating on leading research in powder-based manufacturing.

The Virtual Poster Day involved MAPP’s postgraduate students and researchers presenting and discussing their work with wider members of the Hub community.

However, as part of the new normal, the conference halls and poster boards of our academic institutions were swapped for the online environment of Blackboard Collaborate (a virtual classroom solution).

The MAPP researcher community really rose to the challenge, fully organising and co-ordinating the exhibition of more than 30 posters in separate breakout rooms throughout the day.

Topics ranged from in-situ synchrotron imaging of Direct Energy Deposition to conformable ceramics for advanced shaping, covering the majority of MAPP’s cross cutting themes and platform research.

As a first-year UCL PhD student investigating defects in Laser Additive Manufacturing, it is exciting to be able to attend conferences and discuss my work with other researchers in advanced manufacturing. The MAPP Virtual Poster Day was a great alternative platform for sharing my findings and viewing the Hub’s inspiring core research and portfolio of aligned projects.

Following the online MAPP Hub Industry Briefing Event the week before, MAPP’s industry partners were also in attendance. One of the things I took away from the event was the value of feedback from industry for opening up new research interests and propelling good science out into the wider world.

It is reassuring to know that, even during the pandemic, MAPP is still coming together to share its research and deepen its understanding of manufacturing processes for the design of new and smarter systems.